Alexandee allen muephy



(No Model.)

A. A. MURPHY.

SPOOL HOLDER.

No. 338,764. Patented Mar. 30, 1886.

UNITED STATES,

PATENT OF ICE.

ALEXANDER ALLEN MURPHY, OF MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO FEODOR BOAS, OF SAME PLACE.

SPOOL-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 338,764. dated March 30, 1886 Application filed July 29,1884. Serial No. 139,076. (No model.) Patented in England August 1, 1884, No. 10,965; in France August 2, 1884, No. 163,608, and in Canada November 3,1884, No. 20,457.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER ALLEN MURPHY, of the city of Montreal, in the district of Montreal and Province of Quebec,

Canada, have invented a certain new and Improved Spool Holder, (for which I have obtained Letters Patent in Canada November 3, 1884, No. 20,457; in Great Britain August 1, 1884, No. 10,865, and in France August 2,

[O 1884., No. 163,608;) and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

This invention relates to cases for holding spools of thread, and has for its object the I 5 production of a device which shall meet the want at present felt in retail stores for a holder in which the different sizes of spools and numbers of thread may be kept separate while the stock is still displayed within a small space,

and so arranged as to allow of the quick removal of one or more spools, as the same may be required or sold.

My invention embodies all these advantages; and it consists in a number of tubes of differcut lengths and diameters cut away at their lower ends, so as to show the bottom spool, arranged either in a series of concentric rings or in rows, the outermost row or ring being the shortest and the innermost the longest, all

0 the tubes in a row or ring being of the same length. Each row or series is carried on a distinct platform, through which the longer tubes pass. As the difference in length of the tubes is approximately the size of a spool, it

3 5 will be seen that the platform upon which the outer but shorter tubes stand will serve as a great protection from dust, and even from light, to the spools shown in the inner and longer tubes. An intermediate plate serves the same ofice to the outer row.

For full comprehension of my improved spool-holder reference must be had to the accompanying drawings, in which letters similarto those hereinafter used indicate like parts.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of my spool-holder arranged in circular form; Fig. 2, a plan view of a semicircular holder; Fig. 3, a front and side View of a holder in which the rows are straight; Fig. 4, a plan of Fig. 3; Fig. 5, an enlarged sectional detail. Fig. 6 represents a perspective view of one of the tubes, showing the cut-away portion.

A A are the tubes, cut away at their lower ends, as shown at a, at a somewhat greater distance than the height of one of the spools contained in it. These tubes will be arranged in series of rows, either in circular, semicircular, square, or angular form, according to the position to be occupied by the holder. These several rows of tubes stand in separate platforms B B, and have a common plate, B at top, the tubes in the innermost row being the longest, and therefore standing on the lowest platform. The next platform, B, 6 5 through which the longest tubes will pass, is arranged somewhat more than the height of a spool above it, and projects, of course, considerably beyond it, thus acting to agreat extent as a protection to the lowest row of spools from falling dust. The next row of spools will be carried in tubes supported on said platform B, and pass through the next higher platform, which bears the same relation to the platform B as that does to B and produces the same result. Should the platform B be the uppermost, a projecting flange or plate, 13, may, if desired, be arranged, as shown, at the proper distance from the top of the openings in the shortest tubes.

The numbers of the different spools and sizes of thread will be marked in any suitable way upon the division-platforms B B opposite the respective tubes, thus enabling the salesman to readily select the sizes required. These numbers may also be marked on the top board for convenience in filling. It is only necessary to drop a numberoispools into the tubes from their upper-ends until the same are filled, or nearly so,-a1nd then as a spool is extracted 0 from underneath the pile falls and immediately exposes another of the same size and number at the lower opening.

In my tubes the spools and thread are kept clean and free from dust, and a very large number are stored as well as displayed in much less room and with greater facility than can be accomplished in any of the spool-boxes or cabinets at present in use; besides, my

holder may be suspended from the ceiling, ar- 10o ranged in corners, like spaces, and on walls otherwise unoccupied, or may be used to stand upon a counter, in which latter case the tubes and their framing may be arranged to revolve upon a central spindle, or in any other desired manner. I

I am aware of the patent of Amos W. Harper, No. 144,762, granted November 18, 1873,

in which are shown a number of spool-holding tubes, each tube having a separate support, and being cut away at the bottom to display a spool, andI desire to disclaim the construction therein described and shown.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is as follows:

In a spool-holder, the combination,with spoolholding tubes of different lengths, arranged in rows according to length, of a'common-top plate and a separate platform, upon which each row of tubes rests, so as to display the bottom spool in each tube, substantially as described.

Montreal, July 11, A. D. 1884. e

v ALEX. ALLEN MURPHY.- In presence of- FRAS. HY. REYNOLDS, R. A. KELLOND. 

